Saru no Gundan (SFドラマ 猿の軍団, Army of the Apes) is a 1974 Japanese science fiction television series, that ran on the Tokyo Broadcasting System, from the 6th October 1974 to 30th March 1975. Consisting of twenty-six hour-long episodes, the series capitalised on the success of Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel La Planète des singes, which was known in English as Planet of the Apes, and that of its phenomenal film and television franchise. This said, beyond the basic plotline of a futuristic Earth ruled by apes, Saru no Gundan takes nothing from the Planet Of The Apes, choosing instead to create its own characters and background stories. It is not part of the Planet Of The Apes franchise and is shot on 16mm colour film.